Friday

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the race for the world's
tallest building started in earnest with several developers in New York
vying for the coveted title. The Chrysler Building was the first
building to top the then tallest structure, the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Chrysler Building

New York would keep the tallest building in the world until 1974, when the Sears Tower was built in Chicago.

A race for the tallest building

For Walter P. Chrysler, from the car manufacturer, building the tallest
building in the world was a status symbol. The Chrysler Building was in a
race with the Bank of Manhattan (now 40 Wall Street)
for obtaining the title of tallest building in the world. It looked
like the Bank of Manhattan would win the race, with an expected height
of 282 meters (927ft) to around 230 meters for the Chrysler Building.
But the spire of the Chrysler Building was constructed in secret inside
the tower.

Art Deco Entrance

Gargoyle

The spire

Just one week after the Bank of Manhattan had topped out, the spire of
the Chrysler Building was put in place, making it 318 meters (1045ft)
tall, thus beating the Bank of Manhattan as the tallest building in the
world. It would not keep this title for long: one year later the Empire State Building was erected.

Art Deco

The Chrysler building is one of the last skyscrapers in the Art Deco
style. The gargoyles depict Chrysler car ornaments and the spire is
modeled on a radiator grille. Since it was restored in 1996 it glitters
again like it must have in the 1930s.

And the building's Art Deco interior is even more magnificent than its
exterior. The marble floors and many Art Deco patterns such as on the
stylish elevator doors make the Chrysler Building one of New York's most
beautiful office towers.

Popularity

The building's design by architect William van Alen was largely
dismissed by contemporary architecture critics, who claimed the spire's
design was kitsch and the tower nothing more than a folly.

But ever since its construction the popularity of the building has grown
constantly, both among New Yorkers and architecture critics. It is now
regarded as one of America's greatest buildings, and the Chrysler
Building is often featured on the cover of architectural books and
magazines.

Monday

Piccadilly Circus is a busy square in the heart of London. It is famous
for the fountain that was installed here at the end of the nineteenth
century and for the neon advertising that turned the square into a
miniature version of Times Square.

Piccadilly Circus

The Circus lies at the intersection of five main roads: Regent Street,
Shaftesbury Avenue, Piccadilly Street, Covent Street and Haymarket. It
was created by John Nash as part of the future King George IV's plan to
connect Carlton House - where the Prince Regent resided - with Regent's Park.

Billboards

The creation of Shaftesbury Avenue in 1885 turned the plaza into a busy
traffic junction. This made Piccadilly Circus attractive for
advertisers, who installed London's first illuminated billboards here in
1895. For some time the plaza was surrounded by billboards, creating
London's version of Times Square, but currently only one building still carries large (mostly electronic) displays.

Eros statue

Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain

At the center of the Circus stands the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain. It
was built in 1893 to commemorate Lord Shaftesbury, a philanthropist
known for his support of the poor.
The seminude statue on top of the fountain depicts the Angel of
Christian Charity but was later renamed Eros after the Greek god of love
and beauty. The fountain was made in bronze, but the statue is made of
aluminum, at the time a novel and rare material.

Piccadilly

The name 'Piccadilly' originates from a seventeenth-century frilled collar

named
piccadil. Roger Baker, a tailor who became rich making piccadils lived
in the area. The word 'Circus' refers to the roundabout
around which the traffic circulated.

The Circus at night

Piccadilly Circus Today

Piccadilly Circus is now partly pedestrianized and a favorite place for
people to congregate before going to the nearby shopping and
entertainment areas. Soho, Chinatown, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square are all within walking distance.

Sunday

Wall Street is one of the world's most famous streets. Historically
known as the center of New York's financial district, Wall Street is
often associated with wealth and ambition in America.

How It Got Its Name

Wall Street

NYSE

40 Wall Street

After the Dutch purchased "New Amsterdam" from the Native Americans, a
palisade was erected that formed the northern boundary of the new
colony. The first "walls" along the street were basic plank fences, but
as time passed and tensions grew, a stronger, taller wall was built in
order to defend the colony against both the British and the American
Indians tribes that still dominated the area. In 1685, after the
original palissade was torn down and replaced with a new wall, a new
street was created parallel with the wall, aptly named Wall Street. The
British removed the defensive wall in 1699.

How It Got Its Reputation

Records show that in the years after the Revolutionary War, traders and
speculators would gather under a particular buttonwood tree that sat at
the foot of Wall Street. They soon formed The Buttonwood Association
(1792), which is believed to be the roots of the New York Stock
Exchange, whose headquarters has been located on Wall Street for
centuries.

Buildings along Wall Street

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Wall
Street was "the place" to be if you were a large financial institution
or other big business. So many buildings sprung up on this tip of
Manhattan that the Wall Street district began to boast its own distinct
skyline, separate from the buildings in Midtown.

People like J.P Morgan built headquarters like the one at 23 Wall
Street, which was - for decades - the most important financial
institution in the country. (One can still see the pockmarks on the
building, left there from an unsolved bombing that occurred in 1920.)

Other notable buildings include the columned Federal Hall,
originally built to house City Hall and its offices. The New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE) Building is also quite grand, built by George B.
Post in a neoclassical style

Federal Hall

Charging Bull

that earned it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Equally as notable is the ornate 40 Wall Street, once home to the Bank of Manhattan.

The Charging Bull Statue

One of the Financial District's most famous symbols is the 'Charging
Bull' Statue (The bull represents a bull market, a constantly rising
market).

Inspired by the stock market crash in 1987, sculptor Arturo Di Modica
created the 7,000-pound (3175kg) bull statue as a token of optimism. In
1989 he placed it - without authorisation - in front of the New York
Stock Exchange in Wall Street. Police removed the statue but thanks to a
public outcry it was reinstalled, but this time on Bowling Green, a
small square annex park near Wall Street. The statue has become one of
Lower Manhattan's most popular attractions.

Monday

Grand Central Terminal is one of two magnificent train stations that
were built in New York in the heyday of railway transportation. The
other, Penn Station, was demolished in the 1960s.

Grand Central Terminal

Interior

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Side Entrance

The monumental railway station was constructed in 1903-1913 for the New
York and Harlem Railroad company. It is a grand Beaux-Arts building
which serves as a transportation hub connecting train, metro, car and
pedestrian traffic in an efficient way. It has 67 train tracks on two
different levels.

Penn Station

The other, even grander railway station - Penn Station - was built in
1902-1911 after a design by Charles McKim. In an act of vandalism, the
monumental landmark - which was modeled on the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome - was destroyed in 1963-1966 and replaced by a banal railway station and office tower.

Grand Central Terminal almost suffered a similar fate but thanks to New
York City's new landmark preservation laws - implemented in part thanks
to the outcry over the demolition of Penn Station, the building was able
to escape the wrecking ball.

The First Grand Central Station

The current Grand Central Terminal was not the first railway station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue.
As early as in 1863 Cornelius Vanderbilt, known as 'the Commodore'
consolidated railroad lines including the Harlem Railroad and New York
Central Railroad. As a result of the consolidation the need for a large
railway station soon became apparent.

In 1869, Vanderbilt commissioned architect John B. Snook to build the
largest railway station in the world on a large property at 42nd Street.
The resulting station, named Grand Central Station, featured a large
glass and steel train shed, 650ft long, 200ft wide and 100ft high (198 x
60 x 30 meters). But increasing traffic and the smoke from the steam
engines obscured vision in the Park Avenue
tunnel, causing an accident in 1902. Seventeen people were killed and a
public outcry called for electrification of the railway system. This
resulted in a new state law requiring that steam engines would not be
allowed in Manhattan, starting in 1910.

A New Railway Station

Shortly after the accident, the New York Central Railroad proposed plans
for a new, larger Grand Central Station. The costly electrification and
construction of the new railway station was compensated by the use of
air rights: Electrification made it possible for the tracks to be
covered and paved over all the way to 49th Street. Developers were
allowed to construct buildings on top of it, but had to pay an extra sum
to the railway company, the so-called air rights. Even the air on top
of low-level buildings can be sold this way so that taller neighboring
buildings are allowed.

In 1903 a competition was held for the design of the new Grand Central.
The firm of Reed and Stem was chosen. William K. Vanderbilt II, one of
the descendants of the 'Commodore'

Elevated road separatingcars from pedestrians

Underground corridor

Hercules, Mercurius and Minerva

The Main Concourse

asked Warren and Wetmore to collaborate with Reed and Stem. While the
latter were responsible for the overall design and layout, Warren and
Wetmore were responsible for the architectural details and Beaux-Arts
style.

Terminal City

The project included not just the new railway station, but a whole
complex with office buildings and apartments, which became known as
'Terminal City'. This was a 'city in the city' complex, similar to the
concept of Rockefeller Center,
created several decades later. Special attention was paid to the
circulation of traffic. Pedestrians and cars are separated by special
elevated ramps - the so-called Park Avenue Viaduct - which lead the cars
around the railway station.

Construction of the new station, now known as Grand Central Terminal,
lasted ten years and cost eighty million dollars. In the process, 180
buildings between 42nd and 50th Street, including hospitals and
churches, were demolished. The railway station officially opened on
Sunday February 2, 1913. But it would last until 1927 before the station
was fully operational.

A Grand Design

The building's facade on 42nd Street has a true
Beaux-Arts design. Large arches flanked by Corinthian columns are topped
by a large sculpture group designed by Jules-Alexis Coutan. The 50ft /
15m high group depicts Mercury (the god of commerce) supported by
Minerva and Hercules (representing mental and moral strength).

Ceiling Painting

Central Clock

Chandelier

Inside, the main concourse is most impressive. It is 470ft long, 160ft
wide and 150ft high (143 x 49 x 43 meters). The ceiling was painted by
the French artist Paul Helleu. The design with zodiac constellations was
taken from a medieval manuscript. It is painted backwards, alledgedly
so that the stars are shown as they would be seen by god, not by man.

Light enters the main concourse through six 75ft / 23m high arched
windows. The western double staircase in Botticino marble was designed
after the large staircase in the Opera Garnier in Paris.
It connects the main concourse with the entrance on Vanderbilt Avenue.
The floor of the concourse is of Tennessee marble, the walls of Caen
stone.

Redevelopment

In 1994, the firms of LaSalle Partners and Williams Jackson Ewing were
chosen by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to redevelop
Grand Central Terminal.

The firms were chosen for their successful renovation of another Beaux-Arts icon, the Union Station in Washington DC.
The MTA's goal was to increase revenue while restoring the building's
former grandeur. This was achieved by renovating the large public areas,
removing former alterations (like lowered ceilings), adding a new
entrance and creating a retail mall and food court, similar to the
renovation project in Washington DC.

During the 197 million dollar restoration process, a large iron eagle
was added on top of the new Lexington Avenue & 43rd Street entrance.
This eagle once adorned the first Grand Central Station in 1898.

Sunday

Central Park is one of those places that make New
York such a great place to live. The huge park, 341 hectare large (843
acres), is located in the center of Manhattan. Its design has served as
an example for city parks around the world.

The park boasts several lakes, theaters, ice rinks, fountains, tennis
courts, baseball fields, many playgrounds and other facilities. It is
also home to the Central Park Zoo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Especially during the weekends, when cars are not allowed into the park, Central Park is a welcome oasis in this hectic city.

History

Conception

When the terrain for Central Park was bought by the City of New York in
1853, it was faraway from civilization, somewhere between the City of
New York and the village Harlem. The area contained sheds from
colonists, quarries, pig farms and swamps.

In 1857, the city of New York organized a competition for the design of
this new park, which had to rival with the great parks in London and Paris. A design by Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, named 'the Greensward Plan' was chosen.

Charles A. Dana Discovery Center

This plan featured an English style landscape with large meadows,
several lakes and hills. Winding pedestrian roads were separated from
main roads and the huge number of trees ensured the city's buildings
were not visible from within the park.

Creation

To convert the swampy area into the park the designers had envisioned,
several hundred thousand trees were planted, more than 3 million cubic
yards of soil was moved, roads and bridges were constructed and a large
reservoir was dug out. It took more than 15 years before the 20,000
workers had completed the park.

The Lake

Central Park immediately became a popular place for all New Yorkers, attracting millions of visitors each year.

From Relaxation to Recreation

Frederic Law Olmstead's goal was to create a place where people could
relax and meditate. He saw the park as a kind of social experiment where
people from both upper and lower classes would meet, a rather
revolutionary idea at that time.

After the appointment of Robert
Moses in 1934 as New York City Parks Commissioner, the focus of the park
shifted from relaxation to recreation.

Small bridge at The Pond

During
Moses's 26 year tenure he constructed many sports facilities,
playgrounds and the Wollman rink. He also renovated the Zoo, and
installed several sculptures including
'Alice in Wonderland '.

Decline and renovation

After the departure of Moses in 1960, Central park
started to decline. Graffiti, garbage and criminality kept both citizens
and tourists from visiting the park. In the 1970s the park became a
symbol of New York City's decline.

Rowboats at The Lake

The
tide started to turn in 1980 when a group of citizens created the
Central Park Conservancy. Together with the city, it started a 50
million dollar renovation project. Several parts of the park, including
Sheep Meadow and Bethesda Terrace were restored. Three employees were
hired to remove the graffiti - it took them three years to complete this
task. Criminality was reduced with the deployment of a large police
force.

Balto Statue

Thanks to these efforts by both the city and private groups, Central
Park is now a relatively clean and safe place, visited by more than 30
million people each year.

Sights & Attractions

There's plenty to see and do in Central Park. Sports facilities can be
found all over the park but most of the interesting sights are found in
the lower half of Central Park. You'll come across historical buildings,
statues, monuments, beautiful bridges, and of course plenty of nature.
Some of it is quite rugged like the forest-like Ramble while other parts
of the park are more manicured and feature beautiful flowers and
shrubs.

Merchants' Gate

There
are eighteen gated entrances to the park. Each of them has its own
name. Several of these gates are ornate such as the Vanderbilt Gate,
Engineers' Gate and in particular Merchants' Gate at Columbus Circle.

Central Park Zoo

Many people enter the via the Scholars' Gate at Grand Army Plaza, near Fifth Avenue,
which leads to a nice pond with a beautiful stone bridge. More to the
north is one of the park's most popular attractions: Central Park Zoo.
The zoo has exhibits divided into several regions such as a tropic zone
and polar circle. Some of its popular residents include polar bears,
snow leopards, red pandas and penguins. Just north of the Central Park
Zoo is the Tisch Children's Zoo, where small children can see and touch
domestic animals.

Dairy

West of the Central Park Zoo is the Dairy, a Victorian style cottage
created in 1870. The picturesque building houses a Visitor Center where
you can get maps, guides, gifts, and information on events that are
planned in Central Park. The Dairy is located at a former pasture, where
cows grazed to provide fresh milk for the city's children, hence the
name of the building.

Bethesda Terrace

Bethesda Fountain and Terrace

The Mall, a wide boulevard lined with American elm trees, brings you
from the Dairy to the Bethesda Terrace, one of Central Park's
architectural highlights. The terrace has a central covered arcade
flanked by two staircases that lead to a plaza. The focal point of the
plaza is the Bethesda Fountain, installed here in 1873. The fountain's
statue, Angel of the Waters, was created in 1842 by Emma Stebbins to
commemorate the opening of the Croton water system, which for the first
time provided New York with clean water. Bethesda Terrace overlooks The
Lake and the Loeb Boathouse, where you can rent rowing boats or even a
gondola.

Statues

Alice in Wonderland

Remote controlled model boat enthusiasts head to the Conservatory
Water, a pond situated east of The Lake. There are two statues near the
pond that are very popular with children. At the west side of the pond
stands a statue of Hans Christian Andersen while a sculpture group of
Alice in Wonderland and her friends can be found just north of the
Conservatory Water. Children love to climb on the giant mushroom.
Another famous statue in Central Park shows Balto, a Siberian Husky sled
dog who in 1925 helped transport medicine across Alaska to deliver a
serum necessary to stop a deadly outbreak of diphtheria.

Sheep Meadow and Great Lawn

Just west of the Mall is one of Central Park's largest open spaces:
Sheep Meadow, an expansive pasture popular in summertime with
sunbathers. The Great Lawn, more to the north and at the geographical
center of Central Park, is even larger. The oval lawn, created in 1937,
often plays host to free summer concerts.

Metropolitan Museum and Cleopatra's Needle

Cleopatra's Needle

The most important monument in Central Park is Cleopatra's Needle, an
authentic Egyptian obelisk, located east of the Great Lawn. The 20 meter
tall granite obelisk was originally erected at Heliopolis and later
moved to Alexandria. In the mid 19th century it was donated to the US as
a gift from Egypt.
The obelisk stands near the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
one of the world's most important museums, with an enormous collection
of artwork from all continents, covering a period from prehistory to
today.

Strawberry Fields

Strawberry Fields is a memorial garden situated near the entrance to
Central Park at W 72nd Street. It was created in honor of John Lennon,
who was shot dead in front of the Dakota Apartments,
where he lived. The tear-shaped garden was dedicated in 1985 as a
garden of peace. It is named after a Beatles song written by John
Lennon.

Strawberry Fields Mosaic

The famous mosaic with the word Imagine (another Lennon song) was a gift from the city of Naples in Italy.

Bow Bridge and Ramble

There are many bridges in Central Park - each with a unique design. One
of the most interesting in the 18 meter (60 ft) long cast-iron Bow
Bridge, that spans The Lake between Cherry Hill near the Bethesda
Terrace and the Ramble, a 15 hectare (38 acre) large woodland. Here
Central Park is at its most natural, with narrow paths winding through
thickets of trees. This is a popular place for bird-watching: the Ramble
is on a trans-Atlantic migration route and more than 250 different bird
species have been spotted here.

Belvedere Castle

Belvedere Castle

Just north of the Ramble is the Belvedere Castle, situated at the
highest point in the park. The castle was created in 1869 as a lookout
tower after a design by Calvert Vaux. The tower overlooks Turtle Pond,
named for the many turtles that live here.

Shakespeare Garden

Shakespeare Garden was created in 1913 as the Garden of the Heart. Three
years later, on the 300th anniversary of the Shakespeare's death, it
was dedicated to the famous play writer. The garden contains plants that
were mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. Stairs connect the garden with
the Swedish Cottage, a replica of a Swedish school from the 19th
century. It was transported to Philadelphia on the occasion of the
Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 and it eventually ended up
here in New York's Central Park.

Conservatory Garden

Conservatory Garden

The upper part of Central Park is less visited and there are also less
interesting sights. One major exception is the Conservatory Garden, the
only garden in Central Park with a formal layout. It is divided into
three sections: a central Italianate garden flanked by a French-style
garden to the north and an English-style garden to the south. The
gardens are adorned with several beautiful fountains, including "Three
Dancing Maidens", created in 1910 by the German sculptor Walter Schott.

Charles A. Dana Discovery Center

Further up north, bordering Harlem, is Harlem Meer, one of the largest
lakes in Central Park. The pretty Victorian-style building near the lake
is much younger than it looks: it was built in 1993. It is home to the
Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, an environmental educational center
targeting families and children.

Friday

Times Square, the most bustling square of New York is
known for its many Broadway theatres, cinemas and electronic
billboards. It is one of those places that make New York a city that
never sleeps.

History

Times Square

At the end of the 19th century, New York City had
expanded up to 42nd street and the area was becoming the center of the
city's social scene. In 1904, the New York Times built the Times Tower
on 43rd street just off Broadway to replace its downtown premises. The
square in front of the building was called Longacre square, but was soon
renamed Times Square. The name is now used for the area between 40th
and 53rd street and 6th and 9th avenue.

New York Times Headquarters

The inauguration of the New York Times' new
headquarters at 1 Times Square was celebrated with a fireworks display,
starting a New Year's Eve tradition which still continues today.

Billboards

The first famous ball-lowering from the 1 Times Square's rooftop pole was held on New Year's Eve 1907.

Theater District and Billboards

At the start of the First World War, Times Square
was the center of the Theater District and attracted a large number of
visitors. This made the square an ideal place for billboards. In 1917
the first large electric display billboard was installed. Eleven years
later, the first running electric sign was lit for the first time, to
announce Herbert Hoover's victory in the Presidential elections. The
billboards have become such a tourist attraction for the area, that the
zoning now requires the buildings to be covered with billboards!

Decline

Times Square at night

In the thirties, the Great Depression led to a
sharp decline in theater attendance. Many businesses had to close down,
and they were quickly replaced by strip teases and and peep shows. The
area continued to attract visitors though and after the Second World
War, the Theater District was booming again. At the end of the sixties,
the area started to go downhill and by the mid-seventies, tourists
avoided Times square, which had become a seedy, crime-ridden and
drug-infested place.

Disneyfication

In the 1980s redevelopment proposals were
submitted, with little result. This changed a decade later, when the
Walt Disney Company opened a Disney store on Times Square. This
attracted more family-friendly businesses to the area, leading to a
so-called 'Disneyfication'. The area was now - like most of New York
City - a lot safer than in the early nineties and Times Square once
again became a magnet for tourists and a center of New York's social
scene.

Times Square Today

Today Times Square is a constantly buzzing tourist magnet; the square is even one of the most visited places in the world.

Pedestrianization

Pedestrianized area

For most of its existence Times Square wasn't much more than a large
traffic intersection, but it is now being redeveloped into a
pedestrian-friendly square with large car-free plazas replacing much of
the asphalt. The redevelopment project - dubbed Times Square
Transformation - started in 2012 and is expected to be completed in
2016.

Entertainment

Many people come to Times Square for the ambiance and the billboards
spectacle, but there are also many restaurants and shops - well over
100 - in the area including some crowd-pullers such as the Disney Store
and a large Toys"R"Us. But Times Square is best known for its
entertainment, and plenty of visitors come here to attend a Broadway
show. Times Square is also home to MTV's headquarters and ABC's 'Good
Morning America' is broadcast in front of a live audience from its
office at 44th and Broadway.

Paramount Building and Visitors Center

Paramount Building

The most famous building at the square is undoubtedly the iconic
Paramount Building. The building was home to the Paramount theater where
stars such as Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra performed in
their heyday. Unfortunately the theater was demolished and the Paramount
building is now merely an office tower. Another former theater, the
Embassy Theater, is now the home of Times Square's own visitors center.
Here you can get information about events and Broadway shows. There's
also a small museum that tells the history of Times Square.